IMAGINE IT

I created the grasshopper image using a photograph I took at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago on my iPhone SE and Google Drawings(To use Google Drawings, go to Drive, click on new, then click on more and you will find Google Drawings. Special thanks to Michael Kosko who first taught me this!)

Go down deep enough into anything and you will find mathematics. ~Dean Schlicter

While walking around the amazing Museum of Science and Industry I began to think about the idea that we do not devote museums to math yet math is embedded everywhere. The discoveries of Eratosthenes, Galileo and Einstein would not have been possible without a solid mathematical foundation. Look at any insect, leaf or animal and you will find examples of geometrical patterns. Math is pervasive in music and art, helping us to create as well as interpret. Athletes and sports teams employ statisticians and mathematicians to improve success. Not a single city, building, street, home or even garden has been created without mathematical thinking.

I always hear my students ask why they need to know math, when will they use math in real life. Just like language skills, math is essential in our modern world but students will internalize this idea if they take ownership. It is my goal to help my students discover the invisible math that makes science, technology and engineering possible. Like the sturdy foundation of a great skyscraper, math is often unrecognized but an essential support system. Through this year of study, we will take the journey to find the invisible math in our world.